I definitely understand why people love Levi, I mean I also have a major crush on a number of characters (Roy Mustang and Kakashi) that have those same characteristics: good looking, aloof, great fighter, badass, etc. A character like Levi is pretty much made to be extremely popular, they usually cater to everything that a viewer could want and usually don't carry the extra baggage that the main characters have. But for some reason I don't like him that much, I feel like he is just a little bit flatter than I would hope for a character like him, maybe that's the the bleakness of the series influencing my opinion...

I don't really get why people wet themselves for male Mikasa, either. but then again, this is coming from the guy who currently still gives AoT a 3/5 rating and is wondering why he hasn't dropped the show yet.

Levi? Cold and Aloof? Okay, I'm gonna point to his introduction for this one, this is a guy who killed off two titans using a move that would make Spinzaku wet himself in envy then declared the titan blood on his hangs disgusting in his very first scene
Moments later he's called over to one of his blood covered and dying men who asks if at least he managed to help humanity at all, and the Levi just grabs this dying mans hand, covered in blood, like it ain't thing and tells him that he died like the most magnificent man humanity had ever seen.
This is the guy that also made a point of mentioning to his commanding officer how many died in order to buy time for their operation to succeed, Levi cares for his men.
So no, I wouldn't call him cold and aloof at all but able to keep calm and make the right call in any situation in a world where loosing your cool at the wrong time will get you killed.

As to why he's so popular, dude is nuttier than a fruitbasket and fandom loves that shit.

Well said, he's my favorite because of those same reasons. He seems cold and harsh but he us just doing his job to guide his men. A leader should always keep his composure in difficult times and be a good example for those who follow him.

I want to know the answer to this too. The hype sort of kills the character for me, I liked him at first, but then everyone started overreacting at everything he did. There's just no development for him yet, even Armin has him beat in that field. And based on quirks, I like Hange more. But I can see why people like him, just not fanboy over him.

Heh, well, don't dislike a character just because others like him. Levi is a pretty good "bad cop" kind of personality. But yeah, honestly, I like Jean more at the moment. Actually, I really like the whole "main crew" of recruits since we've gotten to see them struggle through everything, though a few don't get much screen time.